Vehicles

eBay Listing: 1970 Toyota Corolla 2-door Wagon

This 1970 Corolla wagon looks so shiny, straight and well preserved that the “all original” claim is almost difficult to believe, if not for the faded carpet and slightly worn headliner.

When this car was new, no one expected that Toyota would grow to be the world’s biggest auto maker. They were quirky and unusual alternatives to full-sized domestics, and no one ever thought to care for them as collectibles. Most succumbed to rust and neglect decades ago, or were modified by boy-racer tapes in recent years. A fully intact, stock example like this is downright rare today, and nostalgic interest in vintage “J-tin” is ramping up.

This one’s robin’s-egg paint and thin-stripe whitewalls perfectly suit its econobox heritage, but the two-door body style lends it an air of sorta-kinda sportiness, and the 4-speed manual is vastly more interesting than the ubiquitous 3-speed auto. I love that spaghetti-strand shifter.